


Arrows and Targets

by MyVantilene



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Aphrodite!Nico, Hermes!Jason, I'm jumping on the bandwagon, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2018-03-15 16:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3453827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyVantilene/pseuds/MyVantilene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the four months that Jason has been at Camp Half-Blood, he knows only two things for certain. One, if you hang around the Stoll twins, you’re going to find yourself taking the blame for them, and two, if you hang around Nico di Angelo long enough, you’re going to fall in love with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arrows and Targets

**Author's Note:**

> My interpretation of thominhoandnewt's Aphrodite!Nico and Hermes!Jason. 
> 
> EDIT: There was a scene of this that was potentially triggering, but AO3 wouldn't let me change the rating, so I took it out.

In the four months that Jason has been at Camp Half-Blood, he knows only two things for certain. One, if you hang around the Stoll twins, you’re going to find yourself taking the blame for them, and two, if you hang around Nico di Angelo long enough, you’re going to fall in love with him.

Truth be told, he doesn’t stand out much from the rest of the Aphrodite cabin. He changes his appearance just as often as his mother. One day his long hair is tied up in a bun, his camp t-shirt paired with threadbare jean shorts, the next his hair is down, his eyes are lined with crisp wings, and a long aviator jacket is swallowing his torso. No matter what he’s wearing, Nico seems to always make it work like a runway piece. Or maybe that’s just Jason’s bias. Whatever.

The problem with Nico di Angelo is that he’s simply too nice. Well, maybe not the problem with him as a person, but the problem with Jason’s chances of dating him. He’s too nice to Jason, too polite, too caring, too willing to help whenever the son of Hermes needs it. Oh, sure, that doesn’t sound like too much of a dilemma, but Jason’s seen how children of Aphrodite normally act around people they like, knows there’s more of a sarcastic bite to it, a playful teasing that Nico has only shown him on rare occasions.

And then there’s the touching thing. Nico doesn’t like physical contact, though he’s never outright said it. He always flinches when they brush shoulders, always retracts his hand when Jason reaches for it, never once has he embraced him in any way, shape, or form. It’s like Jason’s diseased or something. What he wouldn’t give for a friendly punch to the shoulder, or, at this point, even an unfriendly one. 

“How can I get him to punch me?” Jason asks desperately, flopping down on the sand beside Piper. 

“Um… I’m not exactly the love expert around here, but maybe you… shouldn’t… try… to do that?”

“Piper, he still talks to me like it’s the first time we’ve met. Our relationship should’ve evolved at least into friendship by now.”

“Maybe it has,” she shrugs, “Maybe you’re just over analyzing all of this? Ever thought of that?”

“But, he —”

“Listen. Why don’t you just try to punch him first, huh? See if he plays along.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea. He’ll probably just end up hating me.”

“Impossible.” She smiles, but Jason’s still focused on the horizon, doubt running through his eyes.

She gives a sigh and stands up.

“Come on. You want to do this the middle school way, where I ask one of his friends if he like likes you?”

“No,” he bolts to his feet, “No, don’t, just — help me here. How did you and Reyna start dating?”

“Um, we are both smoking hot babes and it was only a matter of time until we realized we were the only ones in each other’s league?”

“I’m being serious here.”

“Right, right, well you know the story. I got injured trying to keep that chimera out of camp and she kept me in the infirmary a couple days. We hadn’t really spoken before that, but after we were kind of inseparable. And then we went a little overboard with the gay and now we’re girlfriends.”

“So you’re saying I should injure myself?”

“That is not the moral of the story, Jason, gods,” she gives him a smack on the arm, “I’m just saying, I don’t know, look for more ways to spend time with him. Be there for him. If it’s meant to be, he’ll come to you.”

Jason smiles.

“And you say you’re not the love expert.”

“Hey, I’m really not. I’m just a girl who got insanely lucky. Let’s hope it’s the same for you.”

* * *

Jason finds Nico out near the strawberry fields, using a couple of old, spray-painted trees for target practice.

He shoots three arrows consecutively, and they all land fairly close to the center. Considering how far away he is, it deserves a whistle, which Jason is all too happy to give.

“Wh —” he startles, “Oh, it’s just you.”

 _Just you._ The words settle like lead in his stomach.

Nico must’ve picked up on his disappointment, somehow, because he gives Jason a reassuring smile that ebbs away all of his unease.

“So, I’m guessing you came to practice too.”

“Uh, yeah, I did.”

Nico gives him a onceover that makes his heart nearly stop.

“Where’s your bow?”

“Gods,” he breathes, really how could he have been so stupid, “I can’t believe —”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. You can borrow mine. I was just going to take a break anyway,” he says, which is a lie because Jason knows he only ever takes breaks if they’re forced, and hands over his weapon, “It’ll be nice to watch for a change.”

Jason could feel his scalp prickle. He had only touched a bow before a couple times in his life, and it had never ended well.

“Um, alright.”

He holds the bow taunt and squints at the target, focusing all his energy on guiding it towards the center.

Aaaaaaand it’s off by a solid five feet. But going by Nico’s reaction, it might as well have struck the bull’s eye.

“That was good,” he says with such sincerity that Jason almost believes he did vaguely hit the target, “You’ve got the arc of a natural, but you might want to hold it a bit more like this.”

Nico takes the arrow and bow, showing him where to place his hands and how to pull back. Jason was sort of hoping for a cliché, let-me-wrap-my-arms-around-you demonstration but that initiative would take interest on Nico’s part. Which he obviously has none of. At all.

Despite Nico’s advice, the arrow goes zipping past the target, and into the darkness of the woods.

Jason groans into his hands.

“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll go get it and you can try again.”

They venture off into the woods, searching through the underbrush for any signs of the fallen arrow.

“What if we can’t find it?” Jason asks after a worrying amount of time searching, empty-handed.

“Relax,” Nico soothes, “If we can’t find it, then we can’t find it. One missing arrow is not the end of the world.”

Jason’s shoulders sag, and he sits down at the base of a great oak.

“Hey,” Nico says, standing over him, “Why don’t we make a new arrow, hmm? I can show you how to mold it and everything. You could even personalize it.”

“Like you said,” Jason sighs, crossing his arms, “It’s just one arrow. It doesn’t really matter.”

“Uh… um,” Nico stutters, the first time Jason’s ever heard him sound uncertain, “Is something… I mean, are you… I take it… it’s not the arrow you’re really upset about, is it?”

Jason just shakes his head, eyes downcast. He doesn’t know what to say, how to vocalize his wants, his fears. He’s not good at this. He’s not good at anything. And if he keeps this up he’s just going to dig himself a deeper hole here. 

There’s a moment of silence before Jason gets up.

“Come on, let’s go home.”

Nico nods in agreement, but there’re traces of unsaid words in those dark eyes of his.

They walk for a while in amiable silence, before they pass the same oak the second time in a row.

“We’re lost. Dammit,” Jason cusses, “Am I the worst son of Hermes, or what? Couldn’t even find my way out of a paper bag.”

“Jason, it’s not your fault we —”

“Of course it is! I’m the one who missed the target by hundreds of feet, aren’t I? I’m supposed to be the navigation expert, but look at me; all the compasses in the world and I still wouldn’t be able to tell which way is North.”

“Jason, that’s not —”

“I don’t have any of my dad’s gifts! None! Maybe I’m not even a demigod, huh? Maybe I was switched at birth or something, because this —”

“Jason, shut up,” Nico screamed, scaring birds out of trees and the hell out of Jason, “Who cares if you can’t shoot an arrow? Who cares if you’re not a walking, talking GPS? Even if you weren’t born a demigod, who the hell cares?”

There’s a beat of total stillness, where the forest seems to quiet and halt. Then it’s over, and Nico’s face loses all its color.

“Gods…” he breathes, looking anywhere but at Jason, “I’m really going to mess this one up again, aren’t I?”

“Nico, what are you —”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you. Let’s — let’s just keep walking.”

Jason’s quick to follow as Nico goes marching through the forest. In all directions the trees repeat, the same branches, the same leaves, and the sun’s angle is undiscernible, the way it filters through the foliage.

“How do we know if we’re going the right way?” Jason asks, nearly tripping over a clump of roots.

“I know these woods. If we keep going east, we’ll make it back to the pavilion.”

“That’s good to hear,” Jason sighs, “You know if there was any one to be lost in the wilderness with, it would be you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Uh — just that you’d be really good at surviving out here. You’re a master with almost every weapon in the armory, so hunting wouldn’t be an issue. And you’re good at reading the land, what plants are poisonous and which can be used as antidotes, all that kind of stuff. You’ve got surgeon hands and an innate sense of direction.”

“You really think so?”

“Of course.”

There’s a beat where Nico considers that.

“Well, if I was stuck here on my own, I’d choose you to bring along too.”

“Um, why?”

“Because you’re good company. And to eat everything I hunt on my own would be a waste.”

“Yeah, but why not Reyna? She’s good company, plus she’s certified in first aid.”

“Are you trying to get out of being hypothetically stuck in the wilderness with me?”

“Actually, I’m _literally_ trying to get out of being stuck in the wilderness with you.”

Nico laughs at that.

“Well, it shouldn’t be too much further, we’ve only got —”

A cry pierces the air, high and shrill and panicked. Nico’s drawn his sword in an instant, wedging himself between Jason and the sound.

“Follow my lead.” He whispers, taking quiet, calculated steps through the uneven ground.

Jason tries to be as silent and strategic as Nico, but he fails pretty spectacularly. If it’s a monster, it probably already knows where they are just by Jason’s loud footsteps.

Fortunately, it’s not a monster.

It’s a little girl, no older than eight, just as lost as they are. Jason recognizes her from the Hermes cabin, some daughter of a minor god who hadn’t been given its own place at Camp Half-Blood.

“Dana,” Nico breathes, taking her small hand in his, “Are you okay?”

Jason’s knows it’s sort of awful to be jealous of an eight-year-old, but… Nico touches her so easily, never flinching, never avoiding it — it’s hard not to be.

“W…We were playing hide-and-seek and… I thought I heard Michael coming so I ran and I… I got lost and —”

“Shhh,” soothes Nico, giving her hand a squeeze, “It’s alright. We got lost out here too, but we’re heading back to camp now. You want to come with us?”

She nods her head vigorously.

Nico hoists her up onto his shoulders and she lets out a little giggle of surprise.

“You can be our look out, okay?”

“Okay!”

They trudge on like that for some time, Nico entertaining Dana, Jason easily slipping into the background.

He wants to say something, to get in on the joke, but he’s just kind of stuck wondering whether or not Nico was telling the truth when he called Jason good company. He lulls himself into a contemplative silence, wakened only on the third call of his name.

“—on… Jason?”

When he comes to, Nico and Dana are both staring at him in a way that’s just a little unnerving.

“Wh — uh, yeah?”

“You didn’t hear a thing I said, did you?”

There’s a mix of fondness and sadness in his voice and Jason isn’t quite sure what it means.

“Sorry, I guess I sort of zoned out.”

“Mmm,” Nico nods, “Well it didn’t really matter —”

“Did to!” Dana interjects.

“Dana just wanted to know how you got that scar on your lip —”

“Did not!”

“It’s alright. I, uh…” he looks hesitantly at Nico, “I tried to eat a stapler when I was two.”

Nico snorts, but is quick to cover his mouth, as if he could put the sound back in. In his desperation to erase it, Dana gets knocked of his shoulders, but Jason manages to catch her before she injures herself.

“Oh my gods, Dana —”

“I’m alright!” she says, climbing up Jason’s shoulders, “There’s a better view from up here.”

Nico shrugs and keeps walking.

“Fine with me. You were a bit heavy anyway.”

“Nuh-uh! You’re just not as strong as him. Am I heavy, Jason?”

“Uh… Not… really?” Jason stutters, not sure if the joke is really getting to Nico or not. They both know that while Nico’s actually better at combat and endurance and speed and agility and practically everything else, Jason’s the one with the muscles, which is kind of ironic. Jason only worked out before camp because he was on his school’s football team, but Nico does it almost 24/7 for self-preservation.

Nico keeps walking ahead of them.

Dana leans in and whispers,

“Don’t worry, he’s not mad. He could never be mad with you.”

Something unfurls in Jason’s chest, it tenses and relaxes and flares at her words. She’s just a kid, she probably doesn’t understand that Nico could have his pick of anyone at camp, but for a moment… for a moment he finds comfort in the notion.

Nico’s always been pretty popular around camp. It’s nigh impossible to find anyone who doesn’t like him; he’s too strong to be ridiculed, too nice to be hated, and too humble to be envied. Even though he’s more than capable of taking care of himself, there’s something about him that makes you want to protect him anyway.

Dana eventually falls asleep, her head resting against Jason’s shoulder.

“How much longer, do you think?”

“Eh. Five minutes at the most. We took a diagonal path from one end of the camp’s acres to the other, but… it’s strange it’s taking us this long. But I have a decent idea of where we’re going.”

“How did you come to know these woods so well?”

“When I first came to camp, I spent a lot of time out here.”

“Why?”

Nico looks at him hesitantly a moment before answering.

“My first couple months, I was —”

“Stop.”

They both freeze

A woman draped in white and gold steps out from the darkness of the forest. It’s clear she’s a goddess by the way she shines in the muted light, but Jason cannot discern which one.

“Mnemosyne,” Nico says reverently, dropping to one knee and bowing his head, “How can we assist you, my lady?”

She smiles at that. Even gods and goddesses cannot resist the sincerity of his charm.

“Oh, it is nice to be remembered every now and then," she sighs, "but I come to assist you, sons of Olympus.”

“That’s okay, we don’t want to bother you. We’re almost back to camp.”

“I’m afraid you are not,” she frowns, “Hermes and Aphrodite are having a little wager at your expense.”

“They trapped us in the forest," Nico deduces, "Why?”

“I… cannot say. But I can take my daughter off your hands until you figure out how to get back to camp.”

Jason gingerly places Dana in her mother’s arms.

“Wait,” Nico says as the goddess sinks back into the shadows, “I think… I think I know why they did this."

“What are you talking about?”

Jason feels bad at how guilty he looks, shifting from foot to foot, not meeting his eyes.

“I, um… I guess I have some explaining to do. So, uh, here goes,” he takes a deep breath before meeting Jason’s gaze, “I know you’re in love with me.”

“What?” Jason stutters. He can feel his whole world crashing down, a sick, slimy feeling wrapping itself around his chest — Nico knows, all this time, he’s known and he hasn’t returned the sentiment, that’s why he hasn’t said anything until now — until this divine intervention.

“The thing is… people fall in love with me all the time and I give them a week to get over it, and most of the time they do. It’s… it’s Aphrodite’s blessing they’re really in love with, it’s something she marked me with when I was young. But I’ve… I’ve given you months and you still look at me like I’m — I’m —gods, I can’t do this.”

“Hey, it’s alright. I’m not asking anything of you, it’s okay if you don’t like me back, I’ll just deal, you —”

“Oh, Jason,” his eyebrows furrow, “Of course I love you back.”

Jason felt as if one pinch would send him back to his bed, dreaming of love and waking to loneliness.

“But then why haven’t you said anything?”

“Because I’m scared. I tried not to mess it up, but… you’re never honest with me, and my mom always says that honesty is what makes a relationship last and —”

Jason could feel his face heat up that, some well of anger rising in the pit of his stomach. Like hell he was going to let Nico blame miscommunication on him.

“What are you talking about?”

“You could’ve just told me that you wanted to hang out, you didn’t have to pretend like you were out there to practice.”

“Well then why did you lie and say that I was good at it?”

“Because. Because you already think that you’re awful at everything and I didn’t want to make you feel worse.”

“But I thought you needed honesty to build a relationship?”

“I was just trying not to lose you,” he screams, “I had to lie, all this time, I had to be careful because if I wasn’t you would leave and you — you didn’t have to lie about any of this, because it’s different for you, you can just be yourself and that’s enough, but it’s not for me. I have to train twice as hard to be taken seriously, and you can just — you can just show up and people respect you, people listen to you.”

Jason’s shoulders slump and his anger quells at the conviction in his voice.

“But people love you.”

“Not really. It’s Aphrodite’s blessing, it’s not me. Nobody ever likes me for me. Not even you, after all of this, huh? You see me fall apart and you’re going to give up on me, that’s what happens, that’s how it works —”     

Jason takes Nico’s head in his hands, and presses their foreheads together.

“Jason, what are you —”

“How am I looking at you right now?”

“But you —”

“Nico,” he laughs, “This is what I wanted, this whole time. To see you as you are. For you to trust me enough to let me in.”

“But all I did was scream at you, how can you —” As if suddenly realizing they’re touching, he lets go immediately.

“Nico, it’s alright. I’m sorry I did that, I know you don’t like to be touched by me.”

“It’s not… I… I’m an empath, and if I touch you for long enough, I’ll feel what you feel, and you’ll feel what I feel. It’s just an instinct, to let go, I’m sorry. If you still want to,” he reaches for Jason, “even now that you know I’ll be able to —”

Jason doesn’t hesitate before taking his hand and kissing him.

He can feel sorrow and sweetness in those lips, waves of hurt and happiness, the reassurance he feels at Jason’s touch. It’s all he’s ever wanted.

“Wow,” Nico breathes after they let go, “You are so whipped over me.”

Jason laughs, taking Nico into his arms and giving him another (hopefully) reassuring squeeze.

"Well, that took longer than I thought." A voice says. Jason and Nico jump apart.

Hermes and Aphrodite stand before them, more absorbed in their own conversation than the two demigods they dragged into this mess.

"These things take time. I'm sorry you missed your pick up basketball game because you were meddling in my son's love life." She said angrily.

"It's not meddling if it works. We call that helping." Hermes replied.

"We call that forcing my son to admit things when he's not comfortable so you can have some perverse form of entertainment."

"Oh, that is rich coming from the goddess who -"

"Hey, I know you guys are here because of us and all but can we go, like can we leave? Is that cool?" Jason asks, sounding very over primordial beings meddling in his love life.

“Hermes should pay." Aphrodite says.

"Hermes hasn't done anything worse than you." Hermes says. 

"But -" 

"Mom," Nico says, "It's fine, no harm done." 

“Things could have ended up a whole lot worse if - you don't know what he - you see the good in people, even when there is none; it is your fatal flaw.”

“I know,” Nico replies, “I'm working on that. But right now it doesn't seem like I need avenging, does it? I mean, Hermes sort of helped, in his own little privacy-invading way. I don't think he meant any harm by it.”

Aphrodite looks at him, and her stare is equal parts ancient and analyzing. There is a long pause where she says nothing.

“Sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t be able to take credit for what’s in your heart, Nico," she says finally, though it has little do with Hermes, "Even if you spawned from Hades, you would still love as unconditionally.”

She turns to Jason.

“And you,” she takes Jason’s hand, “Even if you had Zeus’ blood, or Hera’s favor, you would still be just as accepting. Even if my son came from hell and you came from the sky, you would love each other no less. I pass onto you both my blessing —”

“But I thought I already had it?”

“Actually, I meant my approval,” she laughs, “But if you want a new blessing that can always be arranged. The old one is a little useless at this point, isn’t it? How about something to make up for the trap he put you both in. I bless you both with direction, may you always find your way back to the other.”

She kisses both their cheeks, then disappears with Hermes.

“Now what?” Jason asks.

“Now we go home,” Nico takes his hand, “Together.”       


End file.
